BETHESDA, Md. — Tiger Woods is back.
How far back is the question, after back surgery sidelined him since March 9, his last competitive round — at the WGC-Cadillac Championships Doral where he posted a final-round 78.
His performance at this week’s Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club, the event hosted by his foundation, will go a long way toward answering that question.
One thing is certain, though: From the sound of Woods’ tone Tuesday, he is not tiptoeing into the water. Woods made it clear he plans to play at the British Open next month, and make a run at the Fed-Ex Cup playoffs, Ryder Cup team and beyond.
“It’s been an interesting ride,’’ Woods said. “This has been quite a tedious little process, but [it’s] been one where I got to a point where I can play competitive golf again, and it’s pretty exciting.’’
Woods has played three PGA Tour events this year, encompassing just 10 competitive rounds. He finished tied for 80th at Torrey Pines in February, missing the secondary cut after shooting a third-round 79. He withdrew from the Honda Classic during his final round in March. And he finished tied for 25th at Doral.
Woods, who had microdiscectomy surgery on March 31, began putting almost immediately after surgery then slowly got into chipping at his home in Jupiter, Fla.
He announced on his website on May 28 he would not play the U.S. Open after missing the Masters in April.
When he tees it up at 8:12 a.m. for Thursday’s opening round with Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, it will have been 108 days since Woods’ last round of tournament golf and 87 days since his surgery.
Woods, who visited the White House with last year’s Presidents Cup team on Tuesday night after some practice range and putting time in the afternoon, has played this event three times at Congressional and won twice — in 2009 and 2012. He finished tied for sixth in 2007. He missed 2008 with a knee injury and 2013 with an elbow ailment.
Woods, who will play in Wednesday’s pro-am event, said he is “ahead’’ of his initial recovery process, which was estimated to be 3-4 months.
“We all thought that the British Open would be my first event back, but I healed fast,’’ he said, adding that it’s “probably a good two years since I’ve felt this’’ good physically.
“Right before I went in [for surgery], I wasn’t able to function. I couldn’t get out of bed,’’ Woods said. “I just couldn’t do any normal activities. When I blew out my knee and even had my Achilles [tendon] problems, I could still do things. I would still be able to function. This was different.’’
He began hitting drivers for the first time since the surgery just two weeks ago, before going out and playing some rounds.
“I wanted to knock off a little bit of rust on the range before I actually went out there and tried not to embarrass myself on the golf course, and I was able to do that, got some holes in,’’ he said.
Asked what he shot, Woods joked, “I broke 50 for nine [the] first time, just like I was when I was 3 [years old]. So I’m sneaking up on it. My prime’s coming up.’’
Asked if he expects to play the British Open, which begins on July 17, Woods said, “Do I expect to? Yeah. I’m just trying to get in the [Fed-Ex Cup] playoffs somehow.’’
Woods added, “If this wasn’t the foundation and our impact that we can have with kids, I probably would not” have played this week.
His presence has added a profound boost in interest for a tournament that otherwise has a relatively weak field, devoid of stars such as Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott.
“There’s always a fascination in terms of watching Tiger play golf and the run that he’s been on throughout his career and what he still has to achieve in terms of his goals,’’ Justin Rose said Tuesday. “I think golf will get really exciting if he starts winning a couple more majors and the race to 18 becomes incredibly on again. I think that’s incredibly exciting for the game of golf and will draw a lot more interest in the game once again.
“It’s always good having him back in a tournament,’’ said Rose, the 2011 champion of this event played at Aronimink without Woods in the field. “I always felt if you win a tournament and Tiger is in the field, it makes it feel probably that bit more special. And, just from an atmosphere point of view, he brings out people to play, people to watch and that’s always a fun environment to be a part of.’’